Trump’s Blistering Criticism of NATO Continues Ahead Of Putin Meeting

It’s no secret that President Donald Trump has been highly critical of our allies in NATO. In his tweets, the POTUS has continuously stated that the U.S. pays too high of a price for the alliance, while our partners do not contribute enough.

Getting ready to leave for Europe. First meeting – NATO. The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer. On top of that we lose $151 Billion on Trade with the European Union. Charge us big Tariffs (& Barriers)!

Trump’s negative feelings towards NATO and accusations that they don’t pay their fair share go all the way back to 2016 and the presidential election. However, as previously reported by The New York Times that statement is not necessarily true. Trump’s claim is based on a goal set by NATO allies to each pay 2% of their country’s GDP. That number is a guideline and not legally binding.

The NATO alliance has been critical to the U.S. since its formation in 1949 when it was created in response to the Soviet Union. The coalition was developed to respond in solidarity should the Soviet Union launch an attack against the west.

Putin Hopes To Destroy The NATO Alliance

Another critic of NATO has been Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin warned NATO in 2016 that he would use countermeasures against the alliance if Russia felt threatened.

President Trump has often praised Vladimir Putin’s leadership since the U.S. President was elected in 2016. Trump even congratulated Putin for winning re-election earlier this year. President Trump made the phone call against the wishes of his national security advisors.

Evidence also suggests that Russia interfered in the 2016 Presidential election, interference that has been confirmed by the U.S. intelligence community and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee.

President Trump will attend a closed-door summit with Vladimir Putin on Monday and has said no aides from the United States would be present for much of the talk.

Trump says that his meeting with Putin will be the easiest meeting of his European tour. It remains to be seen what will come of Trump’s meetings with NATO and Putin. The world will be watching and hoping for a positive outcome but with Trump, anything is possible.